Project aims

Banking seeds that can be conserved by seedbanking and developing alternative conservation measures

Providing plants for display, interpretation and reintroduction

Passing on lessons learned to the wider community

The Wollemi pine is one of the greatest botanical discoveries of our time.

Project Summary

The ‘Dinosaur tree’ or ‘living fossil’, the Wollemi pine is certainly one of the greatest botanical discoveries of our time. Since its discovery in 1994 much has been learnt about this ancient plant and its relationship to its living Araucariaceae relatives. But there’s a great deal to learn about this rare plant, not least to ensure its survival. The Recovery Team for the Wollemi pine has a number of collaborative research projects looking at various aspects of the Wollemi Pine; and there are a number of other research projects underway.

Research Update

Major research projects involving staff of the Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, in collaboration with other institutions, are outlined here - just click on any of them to check out the latest research.

Tracking the Wollemi Pine through time

The unexpected discovery of living plants of the Wollemi Pine, a new conifer belonging to the family Araucariaceae, means we can reassess and compare a range of Araucarian fossil plants going back about 116 million years to the early Cretaceous age.

Fresh leaf material and male and female Wollemi cones (see Appearance) have now been compared with fossils from the Koonwarra beds in South Gippsland (south-east Victoria) and with fossils from other parts of eastern Australia. It seems likely that the Wollemi Pine was once present over an extensive area of eastern Australia; and possibly over a very much wider geographic range including Antarctica, New Zealand and possibly India and southern South America.

It’s also likely it was widely present over a vast time span from the Mesozoic to the Tertiary (250-1.6 million years ago).

Researchers

Professor Carrick Chambers (Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust)

Dr Andrew Drinnan (University of Melbourne, School of Botany)

Dr Stephen McLaughlin (University of Melbourne, School of Botany)

Dr Michael Macphail, Australian National University (Archaeology and Natural History)

To determine their age, a scientific team cut cross-sections from a fallen tree trunk (a large mature, 35-40 metres tall trunk when it collapsed) at the first discovered site in Wollemi National Park, and sent them to the Australian National University Forestry Department for analysis.

Seasonal growth characteristics of the tree rings were examined under a scanning electron microscope. The sharpness of the latewood-earlywood boundaries, and the knowledge that winter freezing temperatures occur in the canyon, indicate that the rings are annual.

By counting the tree rings - the study of tree rings is called dendrochronology - combined with carbon dating, the best estimate for this sample is probably about 350 years old, meaning that this trunk starting growing around 1650!

However, because of the unusual branching habit of this species (called coppicing), we can’t determine how old the original tree was before this trunk was produced - possibly hundreds or even thousands of years since it was a seedling.

Although preliminary results have been released in a poster, there is still more to be done. By examining a number of cross-sections along the length of the trunk, and establishing the age of the trunk at a number of different heights, a model for determining the growth of a tree can be developed. This model can then be used in estimating the age of all the trunks in the site.

Wood anatomy

Using samples from the trunk collected by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service rangers we have been able to examine the anatomy of the wood. An electron scanning microscope was used to produce these images on the right, which are explained below.

Figure 1 An oblique view of the corner of a small block of the wood of Wollemi Pine. The scale bar indicates 0.5 mm. Transverse and tangential surfaces, and their structural inter-relationships can be seen. Approximately 90% of the wood consists of tracheids, 9% is ray and 1% axial parenchyma cells. This is typical of other conifer woods. In the transverse plane (upper half of image) the cut ends of tracheids are visible (figure 2 shows a magnified version). The two lines extending obliquely from above and below the upper left corner are growth rings (figure 3 shows a close-up view of a growth ring). The lower right of the image shows wood in the radial longitudinal plane with tracheids aligned axially and rays aligned radially. A higher magnification view of this plane is shown in figure 4. In the tangential longitudinal plane (lower left of image) the cut ends of rays can be seen (see also figure 5).

Figure 2 Magnified view of the cut ends of two tracheids as seen in transverse section. The tracheids are hollow tubes approximately 0.02 mm wide and 3 mm in length. Bordered pits, which interconnect tracheids, can be seen inside the uppermost tracheid. The scale bar indicates 0.01 mm.

Figure 3 Magnified view of part of a growth ring. The scale bar indicates 0.05 mm. The smaller (latewood) cells (on the right side of the image) were produced in the winter and the larger (earlywood) cells (on the left) were formed in the spring. The long cells, one extending the full width of the image just below centre, and the other in the lower left of the image are the cut sections of rays.

Figure 4 Radial longitudinal surface showing a ray, four cells high, aligned horizontally. Tracheids are aligned vertically. On the right side of the image the ray has been cut through radially, exposing its interior. The numerous perforations (on the left) and circular indentations (on the left) of the ray surface are cross-field pits that interconnect ray cells with tracheids. The scale bar indicates 0.1 mm.

Figure 5 Tangential longitudinal surface showing the cut ends of rays. In this image they range from two to twelve cells in height. The tracheids, which have been cut longitudinally, are aligned vertically in the image. Rows of circular-shaped bordered pits line the tangential walls of some of the tracheids. The scale bar indicates 0.02 mm.

Fungal associations & pathogens

Mycorrhizal fungi grow in and on plant roots helping extract nutrients from the soil. They are thought to be particularly important in the survival of juvenile plants. Two types are associated with the roots of the Wollemi Pine: arbuscular mycorrhizae and ectendomycorrhizae. Finding two types of mycorrhizal fungi was very unexpected because previously only the arbuscular type has been found in the Araucariaceae. These fungi lack specificity in their host association (are able to associate with a variety of plants) and, in practical terms, are common.

So far more than 50 species of fungi living on or near the trees have been identified, at least one third of which are new to science. Intriguingly, one of the species, Pestalotiopsis, that has been isolated from the foliage produces taxol, a cancer-controlling drug, though not in quantities useful for medicine.

Our tests have shown that, like many other Australian plant species, Wollemi Pines are susceptible to two common and easily transmitted pathogens: Phytophthora cinnamomi and Botryosphaeria sp. It is important to ensure that plants are cultivated in the absence of these pathogens and that the plants are not subjected to stress conditions that could predispose them to these diseases.

More importantly in the wild it is essential that hygiene measures already in place at the Wollemi Pine sites continue to be enforced, to ensure none of these fungal pathogens are accidentally transferred to the adult populations.

An unexpected biological finding in the Wollemi Pine, has been a lack of detectable genetic variation.

An extended search for genetic variation has been undertaken at the Australian National University, funded by the Friends of The Gardens and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.

If genetic variation is found, laboratory assays could be developed to study the variation. While so far no detectable variation has been found, work is continuing using alternate methods. Perhaps the Wollemi Pine has lost its variation over a long time but retained its ‘good genes’.

This knowledge improves our understanding of the species biology, evolution and horticultural potential.

Leon Scott (University of Queensland, Centre for Identification and Diagnostics)

Monitoring the population

Most of the adult Wollemi Pine trees, and a number of seedlings and juvenile plants, have been tagged and measured for height and trunk diameter. This provides a basis for long-term monitoring survival and growth rates. Less than 100 plants are known and most have coppiced growth.

By following their life history it may be possible to determine the ability of the Wollemi Pine to maintain its population in the wild in the current climate. This can then be related to the history of trees using tree ring and growth analyses.

So far, tagging juveniles at one of the sites has shown that their survival is high, though their growth is very slow. This possibly suggests that juvenile plants need a break in the canopy before they can grow and mature into adult trees. However, a break in the canopy is likely to be rare, caused by tree death and fall following disturbances such as storms, rock falls, fire or floods.

The slow growth of young plants in the wild contrasts with their faster growing habit in a controlled environment like a glasshouse or cultivated plants in the ground.

Researchers
Dr Tony Auld (NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service)

Propagating the Wollemi Pine

Studies at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan began with developing propagation techniques to establish a collection of plants that reflected the trees growing in the wild. Cuttings of each accessible tree growing in the wild were used in a number of experiments to achieve successful root growth.

Glasshouse experiments
Research on seed germination and early seedling growth has shown why the Wollemi Pine has survived for so long in its harsh natural habitat. Young seedlings are able to survive for years under low light and in very poor soils. The main trigger for growth of these seedlings appears to be increased light - research being conducted includes monitoring the population.

Current experiments on seedlings concentrate on how the Wollemi Pine respond to fertiliser, soil and potting mix, light and temperature.

The horticultural research project established a population for further research and material for commercialisation of mass cloned plants. The data obtained from this has already provided essential data for the commercial propagation of the Wollemi pine and the establishment of plants in the ground.

Researchers
Patricia Meagher

Dr Cathy Offord (Australian Botanic Garden)

Carolyn Porter (Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust)

Seedling growth

The two known populations of the recently discovered rare and threatened Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis Jones, Hill and Allen) consist of a small number of large multi-stemmed adult trees and small seedlings. Female and male cones are produced on adult trees with pollen release occurring in spring (October–November).

Seed cones mature 16-19 months later in late summer and autumn and appear to be produced annually. Approximately 10% of seed produced in two consecutive years was viable, 25% of which was damaged by animals. Glasshouse studies showed that seed germination at 25°C day/16°C night proceeded slowly but steadily at approximately 4% per week until, after 6 months, 88% of apparently viable seeds had germinated with the remainder of the seed rotting.

Growth of potted seedlings in this temperature regime was continuous (after a lag period of 4-6 months) with the monopodial axis growing 0.05-0.25 m in the first year, 0.5-0.6 m in the second year and 0.25-0.35 m in the third year, attaining a total height of 0.8-1.2 m. Multiple orthotropic shoots developed on some plants at this stage, some of which outgrew the primary shoot in height. The diameter of the stem below the cotyledon (just above the soil) grew 3-7 mm in the first year, 10-14 mm in the second and 15-20 mm in the third at which time it was 25-34 mm.

The average number of lateral branches produced was 5-17 in the first year, 25-36 in the second year and 24-30 in the third year giving a total of 60-77. The establishment of Wollemi Pine in the wild does not appear limited by the inherent viability of seeds and potential for early growth of seedlings.

Abstract from Sexual Reproduction and Early Plant Growth of the Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis), a Rare and Threatened Australian Conifer, by C.A. Offord, C.L. Porter, P.F. Meagher and G. Errington. Annals of Botany 84:1-9 (1999).

Measurements are being taken of seedlings and cuttings that have been planted in a number of sites in Australia (see seed germination), along with a number of potted plants at Mount Annan Botanic Garden. This information will give us an understanding of how the plants change over time as they grow into their adult phase.

Researchers
Patricia Meagher (Australian Botanic Garden)

Dr Cathy Offord (Australian Botanic Garden)

Carolyn Porter (Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust)

Seed germination

Wollemia nobilis W.G.Jones, K.D.Hill & J.M.Allen is represented in the wild by less than 100 adult trees, therefore understanding the requirements for seed germination is important for the conservation of this monotypic Australian conifer. Constant-temperature experiments found that seed germination proceeded most rapidly at temperatures between 24°C and 30°C. Few seeds germinated when incubated for 112 days at 10°C and 16°C but later germinated when transferred to 24°C, whereas seeds initially incubated at 35°C were killed. Unstratified seeds showed a pattern of prolonged germination taking 130 days to achieve 40% germination at 24°C and 40 days at 27°C. Seeds stratified at 6°C for 14 days and incubated at 27°C in the light achieved 40% germination within 20 days while those incubated at 10°C and 16°C for 112 days and transferred to 24°C achieved 40% germination by 15 and 24 days respectively. Initial germination of unstratified seeds was fastest when incubated at 30°C in the light, averaging 23 days.

Exposure to 12 h diurnal periods of 10-15 µmol m-2 s-1 light significantly increased 28-day incubation germination percentages, but only those incubated at 30°C. Additions of gibberellic acid (GA3) at 1mM had no effect on seed germination of W. nobilis. The field observations and laboratory experiments indicate that following seed shed in summer and early autumn when temperatures are high, W. nobilis seeds germinate, especially if exposed to light. The seeds that remain ungerminated or that are shed late in the season survive over winter, but germinate rapidly once temperatures rise in the next spring.

Abstract from Effects of temperature, light and stratification on seed germination of Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis Araucariaceae), by C.A. Offord and P.F. Meagher. Australian Journal of Botany 49: 699-704 (2001).

Among the conifers, the family Araucariaceae - to which the Wollemi Pine belongs - shows an unusual embryological (seed) development sequence. By determining the nature of Wollemi Pine seed development we will learn more about evolution and relationships of the Wollemi Pine and the Araucariaceae in general.

Regular sampling of cones as they grow is necessary to determine periods of active development for closer sampling, and may even provide sufficient material for determining the complete development sequence.

Materials for study can be kept indefinitely in alcohol-based preservative. After dissection and further processing through a series of dehydrating (drying) chemicals, ultra thin sections are cut and mounted on glass slides for microscopic examination or can be examined using a scanning electron microscope.

A knowledge of the seed biology of the Wollemi Pine is essential in understanding the reasons for the poor seed set of the species in the wild which may impact on management of the species.

This project was supported by funding from Hermon Slade Foundation, project HSF 02_7.

Researchers
Assoc. Prof. N Prakash (University of New England)

Dr Russell Haines (Queensland Department of Primary Industry)

Dr Cathy Offord & Patricia Meagher (Australian Botanic Garden)

FAQs

When was the Wollemi Pine discovered?

In September 1994 David Noble, an officer with the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, discovered some trees he didn’t quite recognise. In a deep, narrow canyon of the rugged Wollemi National Park, he discovered what we now call Wollemia nobilis or the Wollemi pine.

Why was the discovery of Wollemi Pine so extraordinary?

It’s a very tall tree, close to Sydney and thought long extinct! It’s rare, it’s endangered, it’s strange looking, and at first we didn’t know all that much about it. Now we know a lot more – look below for any topic of interest to find out more.

The dramatic discovery of an evolutionary line thought to be long extinct is even more remarkable with these tall and striking trees growing only 150 km from Sydney, the largest city in Australia. They were found in the extremely rugged Wollemi National Park, a largely undisturbed wilderness area

What are the Wollemi Pine Facts & Figures?

The family?
Araucariaceae

The genus?
Wollemia

The number of living species?
1 (Wollemia nobilis - Wollemi Pine)

The population size?
Fewer than 100 trees

When & where was the Wollemi Pine discovered?
1994 (two populations), 2000 (one further population) in the Wollemi National Park, New South, Australia.

Who discovered by?
David Noble, National Parks & Wildlife Service officer, when canyoning

What is the distribution of fossil remains of Wollemia?
Widespread, including Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica

What are the closest relatives of the Wollemi Pine?
Agathis (Kauri Pines), Araucaria (Norfolk Island, Hoop, Bunya Bunya and Monkey Puzzle pines) all belong to the family Araucariaceae – see age and ancestry

What is the estimated age / lineage of Wollemi Pine? 90–200 million years, based on a combination of fossil evidence, known evolutionary relationships of the two genera, biogeography and known timing of the Continental Drift – see age and ancestry

What are the oldest known fossils of close relative?
90 million years (fossil pollen of dubious identity, known as Dilwynites)

What are the unusual characteristics of Wollemi Pine?
Its bark; its bud development; its branching habit – see appearance and characteristics.

When was the first cultivated Wollemi Pine planted?
On 9 February 1998, in the Rare & Threatened Plant Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. It was planted by Jan Allen and Jeremy Coleby-Williams and subsequently planted in many other locations – see where to see it for the oldest plantings.

What are the major threats to the Wollemi Pine?
Humans – see protecting it

Where can I get images of Wollemi Pine for publication?
If you wish to obtain photographs of the Wollemi pine for commercial purposes please contact Wildlight Photo Agency, Phone 61 2 9698 8077, Fax 61 2 9698 2067

How old and what’s the ancestry of Wollemi Pine?

To determine the age of the Wollemi Pine trees, a scientific team cut cross-sections from one of the fallen trunks (a large mature, 35-40 metre trunk) at the original site in Wollemi National Park, and sent them to the Australian National University Forestry Department for analysis.

One of the most intriguing things that can’t be determined, due to coppicing (the unusual branching habit which leads to old Wollemi Pines having many separate trunks - see appearance) is how old the original tree was before this particular trunk was produced. It may have been hundreds, or perhaps thousands of years since it was a seedling.

By counting the growth rings from cross-sections of the trunk and combining this with carbon dating, the best estimate for this sample trunk is about 350 years old - research is being conducted on determining its age. This means that this trunk started growing around 1650!

Family ties?
The Wollemi belongs to the conifer family Araucariaceae, and its closest living relatives in this family include the Kauri (Agathis spp), Norfolk Island, Hoop, Bunya Bunya and Monkey Puzzle pines (Araucaria spp). Morphological, wood anatomy and DNA analysis suggest that the Wollemi is a new genus, falling between the two previously known living genera: Agathis and Araucaria.

Ancestry?
Conifers date back to the Carboniferous age, more than 300 million years ago. ‘Modern’ (evolved) conifers, like the Araucariaceae family, are known from the Triassicperiod, more than 250 million years ago.
There are Triassic fossil examples of the Araucariaceae family, which reached maximum diversity during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, between 200 and 65 million years ago, with worldwide distribution. At the end of the Cretaceous, when dinosaurs became extinct, so too did the Araucariaceae in the northern hemisphere.

Until about the middle of the Tertiary (30 million years ago), plants in the Araucariaceae grew in the forests of the southern super-continent of Gondwana (which included Australia, Africa, South America, Antarctica and India). The Araucariaceae family then began a slow decline in range and diversity as flowering plants, better adapted to climate change, began to evolve and gradually displace conifers. The last fossil record of the Wollemi Pine is dated at about two million years ago and so the Pine was thought to be extinct - research is being conducted on tracking it through time.

What does the Wollemi Pine look like?

Appearance
In the wild the trees grow to about 40 metres and their trunks can grow up to 1 metre in diameter.

Like other conifers, it bears cones (male and female), which appear at the very tip of branches with adult phase leaves.

The bark is particularly unusual, looking very much like ‘chocolate crackles’ or bubbling chocolate, making it quite different from the bark of other related species.

The leaves
The Wollemi has two types (or phases) of leaves. It does not have needles like pine trees in the northern hemisphere. Its young broad-based juvenile leaves are bright lime-green and grow in low light under the rainforest canopy. The adult leaves, which grow in much harsher conditions above the canopy, are tougher and a deeper bluish-green.

The leaves at the beginning and end of a growing season are shorter than those formed during the middle of the season, creating a diamond shaped pattern along the branch. The leaves also have an in-built system to help reduce water loss.

The branches
There are two types of branches on the Wollemi Pine:
1 - one grows upright (orthotropic), forming a stem or another trunk, depending where it starts
2 - the other grows sideways (plagotropic) from an upright branch and the leaves develop on these branches. Unlike trees in the genus Araucaria, the sideways branches do not divide unless the growing tip (apical meristem) is damaged.

Upright branches start from buds borne along the trunk, eventually maturing with foliage and a branching structure resembling the initial trunk, so that older trees develop a branched crown. Upright branches that develop from buds at the base of the trunk, referred to as coppicing, form a multi-trunked tree.

Young seedlings, from as early as one year old, can develop more than one upright branch - unlike Araucaria trees where additional upright branches develop only after the growing tip has been damaged or wounded.

What is unusual about the bud formation of Wollemi Pine?

Most flowering plants, though not conifers, have dormant buds in the axils (the angles between the upper side of each leaf and the stem) - so if a plant is damaged by insects or pruning, these buds can sprout. In the genus Araucaria and in the Wollemi Pine, each axil has a small group of cells that’s somewhere between a fully formed bud and no bud at all. A unique feature of the Wollemi Pine is that these buds on upright branches develop normally to form a multi-stemmed and multi-branched tree.
Further reading: The Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis, Araucariaceae) possesses the same unusual leaf axil anatomy as the other investigated members of the family, by Geoffrey E. Burrows, Australian Journal of Botany, 4:61-68 (1999).

What is the coppicing habit of the Wollemi Pine?

Some dormant buds may sprout along the trunk or from the base of the trunk. This is called coppicing, resulting in large old plants with multiple trunks of different ages - see age and ancestry. This may be a defence against damage from drought, fire or rock fall in the steep canyons where they grow. It‘s probably the reason that the Wollemi Pine has survived the increasing aridity of Australia over millions of years.

Further reading: Architecture of the Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis, Araucariaceae), a unique combination of model and reiteration, by K D Hill, Australian Journal of Botany, 45: 817-826 (1997).

Why does Wollemi Pine shed branches?

The leaves don’t have stalks (petioles) to attach to the branch - see appearance. Instead, the whole base of the leaf wraps halfway round the branch. So the tree sheds entire lateral branches rather than individual leaves, which is another unusual feature it shares with the genus Araucaria.

How do the leaves of Wollemi Pine reduce water loss?

Its leaves have a thick cuticle (a very thin film covering the outer, or epidermis, layer of the leaf), a fibrous hypodermis (a layer of cells just under the epidermis) and sunken stomata (pores), a survival characteristic which helps it reduce water loss.

The Wollemi Pine is bisexual (monoecious), like its closest living relatives, with both male and female cones on the same tree. The round female cones produce the seeds, and the long male cones produce the pollen.

They appear on separate branches, at the very tips. The female and male cones start growing in mid-summer. In late spring the male cones release masses of pollen, which is carried by the wind, to fertilise the egg cells in the female cones. The female cones then take about 18 months to ripen, when the fertilised ovaries develop into seeds and then they fall apart high above the canyon floor, releasing winged seeds that float to the ground - research is being conducted into embryological (seed) development. If a seed falls in a suitable position and the weather is favourable it will germinate. Over time if the light conditions are right, the small seedling may grow to become a majestic emergent rainforest tree.

Each conifer seed has a scale associated with it. Like Agathis, Wollemia seeds are separate from the scale, whereas the seeds of Araucaria are attached to the scale. BothAgathis and Wollemia have winged seeds, but in Wollemia the wing encircles the seed and in Agathis the wing is one-sided - research is being conducted into seed germination.

What is the ecology of the Wollemi Pine?

The Wollemi Pine grows in a sandstone canyon in a ferny warm temperate rainforest. It grows on the steep lower slopes and ledges of the canyon on an acidic, sandy loam soil with pH of about 4.5. The main vascular associate plant species are Coachwood (Ceratopetalum apetalum), Sassafras (Doryphora sassafras), Lilly Pilly (Acmena smithii), Soft Treefern (Dicksonia antarctica), shield ferns (Lastriopsis spp.) and Umbrella Fern (Sticherus flabellatus).

Population parameters

Fewer than 100 trees at several sites

Average 4.7 stems per tree

Average stem height is 11 m

Average stem diameter is 118 mm

Tallest tree is 38.5 m

Widest stem is 0.67 m

Growth
A remarkable aspect of the Wollemi Pine's ecology is that it is able to produce viable seed with no detectable genetic variation in its population.

Over 200 seedlings have been counted. Some of these are tagged and are being monitored for survival and growth rates. The seedlings grow on average only 1 cm per year and most are less than 30 cm high. Many of these seedlings will die unless there is a canopy opening that allows light in penetrate to the ground - thus providing energy for the seedlings to grow.
Given the right conditions the trees grow quickly for the first 15-20 metres until they reach the canopy then they put more of their energy into the bulk of their trunks and root systems. Their stem to diameter growth rate is a binomial rather than a linear relationship.

Coppicing
Through the millions of years of population decline, the Wollemi Pine has maintained its fitness for sexual reproduction but has adopted a secondary reproductive strategy - that of self-coppicing (see Characteristics).
Coppicing also helps the tree to survive disturbance. While tree ring analysis has revealed that trees with a diameter of 0.8 m may be 350+ years old, the coppice roots may be thousands of years old. The extensive root system of the Wollemi Pine may also explain how it has survived droughts - the roots penetrate into creek beds and into cracks in the sandstone cliffs.

Disturbance
All populations have been burnt or subjected to rock fall or windstorm damage. It is postulated that if these disturbance events happen too often they may reduce or eliminate the Wollemi Pine's population. On the other hand, if there is no disturbance the other rainforest plants may dominate the glades and prevent the Wollemi Pine's seedlings from growing into adult trees.

The main threat to the survival of the Wollemi Pine is visitation by humans – see protecting it. They may trample the seedlings, compact the soil and risk introducing the deadly root pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomii - see fungal associations & pathogens - which could wipe out the wild population of the Wollemi Pine.

Some big ecological questions
The long-term aim of the ecological research into the Wollemi Pine is to track the survivorship of the trees and the seedlings. This may reveal some insight into how to manage disturbance such as wildfire at the sites.

How old are the coppice trees and how long can they live?

Could too-frequent wildfire destroy the stands?

How frequent and what type of disturbance would ensure survival of the Wollemi Pine?

How do we manage illegal visitation to minimise impacts?

Where is the Wollemi Pine found – what’s it’s habitat?

The Wollemi Pines grow in the Wollemi National Park, north-west of Sydney, the state capital of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The park covers about 500 000 hectares and is the largest wilderness area in the state - a very rugged mountainous region of ridges, cliffs, canyons and undisturbed forest.

The sandstone ridges and canyon walls are covered by dry sclerophyll woodland and shrubland dominated by Eucalyptus species. A warm temperate rainforest in the deep canyons is dominated by Coachwood (Ceratopetalum apetalum) and Sassafras (Sassafras doryphora), with an understory dominated by ferns such as Sticherus (Sticherus flabellatus). The Wollemi Pines grow on ledges in these canyons.

Given the degree of interest in the Wollemi Pine, protecting it is crucial, and this is done through both legislation and site management. Under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act (1995) a fine of up to $220,000 and imprisonment of up to two years can be imposed for any damage caused.

Why was the Wollemi Pine propagated for sale?

There has been worldwide interest in and demand for the Wollemi Pine for horticulture. As part of a strategy for Protecting it, research into its horticultural development and commercial propagation has allowed the plant to be available. This strategy is to ensure that it exists in cultivation so that people can learn about this interesting species while helping to conserve it. Plants have been available from Botanic Gardens Shops at the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney, the Australian Botanic Garden, Mount Annan, and the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden, Mount Tomah or on-line or from selected nurseries in Australia since 1 April 2006.

So far, the plant is proving to be an especially good pot plant and can be grown in many garden situations

After millions of years of evolution from ancestors in or before the dinosaur era, the Wollemi Pine is teetering on the edge of extinction. Human beings are the biggest threat to its survival. One visitor to the site could destroy the population by introducing pathogens, for example a root fungus.
Since there are so few specimens in the wild, a thorough management strategy has been developed to protect them - the Wollemi Pine Recovery Plan - which includes:
1. world heritage listing (the Wollemi National Park is part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area)
2. protection under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 and the federal Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
3. Memorandum of Understanding between NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service and the Botanic Gardens Trust to manage the wild populations and develop a cultivation and propagation program
4. not revealing the exact location of the known stands to other than bona fide scientific research teams
5. minimising the number and duration of visits to the site and avoiding trampling seedbeds and seedlings, compacting soil and introducing disease
6. introducing special precautions during scientific field trips, for example anti-microbial footbaths to ensure the exotic root rot pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi and other diseases aren’t introduced to the site
7. monitoring the sites to guard against unwanted and perhaps destructive visits by bushwalkers and collectors, and liaising with neighbours to the national park who help with site protection
8. studying the ecology of the species in the wild to identify issues critical for recruitment and the survival of the species under a range of disturbances such as fires, floods, rockfalls and treefalls
9. establishing botanical research and horticultural development projects (seegrowing it)
10. licensing commercial propagation - see growing it.